Apparatus for placing continuous reinforcing in concrete paving

ABSTRACT

Spacing and depressing continuous reinforcing rods in concrete paving allows this reinforcing to be continuously positioned. Continuous reinforcing rods are positioned on the grade to be paved and are lifted over a first machine which receives and spreads the concrete. While supported by the first machine, the rods are separated laterally into two groups which define a center opening through which the concrete is delivered by a conveyor positioned above the rods. Rearwardly of the conveyor, the rods are guided inwardly to close the center opening and are maintained in a predetermined parallel relationship. Tie-bars or full-width cross-bars are then placed on top of the concrete in such a manner as to be beneath the continuous reinforcing rods. The rods are then guided and depressed below the surface of the concrete by a second concrete finishing machine and in turn depress the tie-bars or cross-bars to their proper position immediately therebeneath.

United States Patent Hudis APPARATUS FOR PLACING CONTINUOUS REINFORCING IN CONCRETE PAVING Michael I. Hudis, Brookfield, Wis.

Assignee: Rex Chainbelt Inc., Milwaukee, Wis.

Filed: Feb. 3, 1970 Appl. No.: 8,222

Inventor:

US. Cl ..94/39 Int. Cl. ...E0lc 19/00 Field of Search ..94/39, 46

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 51 Apr. 25, 1972 Primary Examiner.lacob L. Nackenoff Attorney-Sughrue, Rothwell, Mion, Zinn & Macpeak [5 7] ABSTRACT Spacing and depressing continuous reinforcing rods in concrete paving allows this reinforcing to be continuously positioned. Continuous reinforcing rods are positioned on the grade to be paved and are lifted over a first machine which receives and spreads the concrete. Wlhile supported by the first machine, the rods are separated laterally into two groups which define a center opening through which the concrete is delivered by a conveyor positioned above the rods. Rearwardly of the conveyor, the rods are guided inwardly to close the, center opening and are maintained in a predetermined parallel relationship. Tie-bars or full-width cross-bars are then placed on top of the concrete in such a manner as to be beneath the continuous reinforcing rods. The rods are then guided and depressed below the surface of the concrete by a second concrete finishing machine and in turn depress the tiebars or cross-bars to their proper position immediately therebeneath.

8 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTEmms I972 3, 557, 977

' SHEET 10F a INVENTOR 41/0/45; 1." Hun/s By Sue/ 05, ROTHWELL, M/a/v,

Z/Mv f MACPEAK ATTORNEYS PATENTED APR 2 5 I972 SHEET 36F 3 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a method of and apparatus for placing continuous reinforcing rods in concrete paving.

2. Description of the Prior Art The laying of concrete paving is accomplished generally by two methods. These methods are: (1) the fixed-form method, whereby forms are placed along both sides of a roadway to be paved prior to the pouring of the concrete. The concrete is then poured into these fixed forms and allowed to set prior to the removal of the forms; (2) the slip-form method, which incorporates the use of moving forms located on either side of the paving machine and corresponding to the sides of the roadway to be paved. Concrete is placed on the grade and is distributed between the forms, smoothed over and struck off by the paving machine, thus leaving behind a finished surface which needs only to harden to constitute a finished, paved roadway. The slip-form method requires no removal of forms from the roadway after the pavement has set.

Various reinforcing means are used with both the fixedform and slip-form type of paving to strengthen the concrete pavement. These reinforcing means include the use of continuous reinforcing rods or wire mesh placed beneath the surface of the concrete pavement. Various methods have been used to locate such reinforcing means in the concrete pavement. These methods have included pouring a first layer of concrete of the desired thickness, manually placing the reinforcing rods or wire mesh upon the first-poured layer, and then pouring a second layer of concrete over the reinforcing rods. Another method involves the supporting of the continuous reinforcing rods at the desired height by the slip-form paving machine while simultaneously pouring and finishing the concrete around the rods and their supporting means. In the latter method, the closely spaced rods and their supporting means tend to interfere with the uniform settlement of the concrete onto the roadbed and tend to cause voids under the reinforcing rods.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, continuous reinforcing rods are supported above and pass over a first machine or spreader which distributes the concrete onto the roadbed to a full depth from a conveyor located above the rods. While supported by the first machine, the rods are separated laterally into two groups which define a center opening through which concrete is delivered by the conveyor. Rearwardly of the conveyor the rods are guided inwardly to close the center opening and are maintained in a predetermined parallel relationship. The continuous reinforcing rods are then guided and depressed into the plastic concrete to a predetermined level by a second paving machine or finisher which respreads the concrete over the depressed reinforcing rods and forms a finished surface on the plastic concrete. Although the preferred embodiment of the invention utilizes the slip-form method of paving, it is equally suitable for use with the fixedform method.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a preferred embodiment of the first machine or spreader;

FIG. 2 is a partial top plan view ofthe first machine;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view, with parts broken away, taken substantially along line 3-3 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a front elevational view of the first machine, with parts broken away;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view ofa preferred embodiment ofthe secondpaving machine or finisher; and

FIG; 6 is a partial top plan view of the second machine.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS As seen in FIGS. 1-3, the first machine or spreader 10 comprises a pair of endless track-laying carriages 11 which operate on the grade G at each side of the roadway to be formed. A support frame 12 is mounted on the carriages 11 and comprises upwardly extending beams 13 and transverse beams 14. Power means 15 and an operator control deck 16 are supported by the frame 12. The power means 15 is drivingly connected by any suitable drive transfer means 17 to the sprockets 18 for driving the endless tracks 19 of the carriages 11.

Each carriage 11 includes a slip-form 20 which extends rearwardly of the spreader 10 to form the side of the concrete slab C as it is laid on the grade G. As is well known, the spreader 10 may be guided by probes (not shown) which move along a guide wire (not shown).

Any suitable type of conveyor or delivery means 21 is mounted on the frame 12 to receive fresh concrete from a delivery vehicle (not shown) to be distributed onto the grade G. As an illustrative example, the conveyor means 21 may comprise a belt conveyor 22 mounted on rollers 23, one of which is drivingly connected to the power means 15 in any suitable manner. The rollers 23 are supported by a frame 24 which may be rigidly mounted on the frame 12 in any suitable manner. Alternatively, the frame 24 may be movably mounted on the frame 12in any suitable manner to enable the belt conveyor 22 to be moved inwardly to allow a concrete delivery vehicle (not shown) to pass closely adjacent to the spreader 10 when travelling alongside the roadway to be paved, and to enable the belt conveyor 22 to be moved outwardlyto the position shown in FIGS. 2 and 4 to receive concrete from a delivery vehicle (not shown) parked next to the spreader.

The belt conveyor 22 comprises a first concrete-receiving section that is substantially horizontally disposed when the conveyor is in the position shown llll FIGS. 2 and 4, and a second section that is inclined upwardly toward the spreader l0 and terminates at approximately the middle ofthe roadway to discharge concrete onto the center portion ofthe roadway.

It is noted that any suitable type of concrete conveyor means may be used with the spreader 10 without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention.

The discharged concrete is initially spread laterally over the roadway by a substantially horizontally disposed, elongated blade member 27 that is secured at one end to a vertically extending rod 28 that is rotatably mounted on a frame portion 25 extending across the carriages 11. The rod 28 and the blade member 27 are caused to oscillate by any suitable power means such as the piston and cylinder fluid drive unit 29 connected to the rod 28, as shown in FIG. 2.

The concrete is further spread and distributed evenly over the roadway by an auger 30 that is rotatably mounted on and extends across the carriages 11. The auger 30 is rotatably driven by the power means 15 in any suitable or conventional manner. A strike-off member 31 is mounted on and extends across the carriages 11 immediately behind the auger 30 and serves to strike-off" the spread concentrate at a predetermined height, as shown in FIG. 3. The strike-off" member 31 may be adjustably mounted on the carriages 11 in any suitable or conventional manner.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, continuous reinforcing rods R are supported and guided on the spreader 10 by front and rear lift rolls 32 and 33 mounted on the carriages 11; by pairs of supporting rolls 34 and 35 mounted on the front and rear of the frame 12; by pairs of guide rolls 36 and 37 mounted on the front and rear of the frame 12 adjacent to the support rolls 34 and 35, respectively; and by guide rolls 38 disposed adjacent to the rear lift roll 33. In this manner, the reinforcing rods R are supported beneath the concrete conveyor 21 as the spreader 10 moves forwardly along the roadway to be paved.

The guide rolls 36 and 37 serve to separate the rods R laterally into two groups which define a center opening positioned beneath the discharge end of the conveyor 22 so as to receive the discharged concrete therethrough, as shown in FIGS, 2 and 4. The pairs of guide rolls 38 are spaced farther apart laterally than the pairs of guide rolls 36 and 37, and serve to allow the spreading of each laterally separated group of rods R to gradually reduce the size of the center opening rearwardly of the conveyor 22.

Rearwardly of the rear lift roll 33 on the spreader 10, there are provided wheeled extensions 70 of slip forms 20 which support a pair of support rolls 71 for the rods R and a plurality of spacer rolls 72 extending across the extensions 70. The spacer rolls 72 serve to close the center opening and to guide and maintain the rods R into a predetermined, equally spaced parallel relationship, as shown in FIG. 2.

As shown in FIGS. and 6, a second machine or finisher 40 trails the spreader and may be of any suitable construction such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,331,296. In the preferred embodiment, the finisher 40 comprises a pair of endless tracklaying carriages 41 which operate on the Grade G at each side of the concrete slab C formed by the spreader 10. A support frame 42 is mounted on the carriages 41 and serves to support an operator deck 43 and power means 44 for the finisher 40.

Each carriage 41 includes an inwardly facing slip form 45 which defines a side edge of the finished concrete slab C. The finisher 40, like the spreader 10, may be guided by probes (not shown) which move along a guide wire (not shown), or in any other conventional or suitable manner.

The continuous reinforcing rods R are supported and maintained in the predetermined spaced relationship at the front end of the finisher 40 by a pair of support rolls 46 and spacer rolls 47 that are mounted on the carriages 41. A walkway 48 extends across the carriages 41 and the slab C and joins a forwardly extending platform 49 that is disposed above the support rolls 46 and spacer rolls 47. The purpose of the platform 49 is to enable a workman to place tie-bars T on the concrete and under the reinforcing rods R in transverse relation therewith, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. Alternatively, suitable apparatus (not shown) could be provided on the platform 49 for automatically placing tie-bars T at a predetermined spacing under the rods R. Also, such a platform could be provided at the rear of the spreader 10 instead of the front of the finisher 40 to enable tie bars or full-width cross bars to be positioned on the concrete under the rods R.

Rearwardly of the walkway 48, a rod depressor 50 extends across and is rotatably mounted on the carriages 41. The depressor 50 is drivingly connected to the power means 44 in any suitable manner. The depressor 50 comprises a plurality of rod members 51 extending across the carriages 41. The rod members 51 are secured at their ends to circular support members 52 and are spaced evenly about the periphery thereof. The rods members 51 are positioned to engage the upper surface ofthe reinforcing rods R and to depress the rods R and the underlying tiebars T a predetermined depth into the poured plastic concrete slab C as the finisher 40 moves forwardly. The rod members 51 further serve to agitate the concrete as the depressor 50 is rotated and the rods R and bars T are depressed into the concrete.

A rotatable auger 53, drivingly connected to the power means 44, and a strike-of member 54 extend across and are mounted on the carriages 41 rearwardly of the depressor 50 for the purpose of spreading and striking off" the agitated concrete at a predetermined height. A finishing member 55 is mounted on the carriages rearwardly of the strike-off member 54 and serves to finally finish the upper surface of the concrete slab C.

1n the method ofthe present invention, the continuous reinforcing rods R are placed on the grade G to be paved in a parallel manner. Such reinforcing rods R are typically provided in 40 to 60-foot lengths and are joined end to end by welding or by wrapping with wire (not shown) to provide continuous rods. As the spreader 10 is moved forwardly, the continuous reinforcing rods R are supported over the grade to be paved and guided under the concrete conveyor 21 by the lift rolls 32, 33 and the pairs of support rolls 34, 35. The rods R are separated laterally by the guide rolls 36, 37 into two groups defining a center opening beneath the conveyor 21 through which the concrete is discharged from the conveyor. Rearwardly of the conveyor 21, the guide rolls 38 and spacer rolls 72 guide the rods R inwardly to close the center opening and to direct the rods R into a predetermined, equally spaced, parallel relationship. The concrete deposited on the roadway by the conveyor 21 is spread by the oscillating blade 27 and the auger 30, and the upper and side surfaces of the concrete slab C are formed by the strike-off" member 31 and the slip forms 20, respectively.

Tie-bars T are then placed on the poured concrete slab C under the reinforcing rods R by a workman or by suitable apparatus (not shown) on the front platform 49 of the second machine or finisher 40. The reinforcing rods R and underlying tie-bars T are then depressed a predetermined depth into the plastic concrete by the rotating depressor 50 as the finisher 40 moves forwardly. The agitated concrete is thereafter spread by the rotating auger 53, struck-off at a predetermined height by the strike-off member 54, and finished by the finishing member 55 and the slip forms 45 as the finisher 40 continues to advance.

lclaim:

1. First and second concrete paving machines for laying a concrete roadway having continuous longitudinal reinforcing rods embedded therein at a predetermined depth and spacing, each machine having propelling means for travel over the grade on which the rods are preassembled and on which the concrete is to be laid; said first machine comprising a forward series of rolls disposed to elevate and guide the rods into two laterally, well-spaced groups defining an opening therebetween as the machine travels, a concrete conveyor disposed over the rods to discharge concrete through said opening and onto said grade, concrete distributing and spreading means disposed below the elevated rods and rearward of said conveyor, and a rearward series of rolls disposed to uniformly space and lower the rods toward the spread concrete; said second machine comprising forward means to guide and depress the rods into the concrete and intermediate and rearward means to respread and finish the surface thereof.

2. The concrete paving machines as in claim 1 wherein said concrete conveyor projects outwardly from the side of said first machine to receive delivered concrete and extends inwardly over one of said two groups of elevated rods to discharge the concrete through said opening.

3. Apparatus for laying a reinforced concrete roadway section having a series of continuous longitudinal reinforcing rods embedded therein at a predetermined depth and substantially uniformly spaced across the section, said apparatus having propelling means for travel over the grade on which the rods are preassembled and on which the concrete is to be laid, said apparatus including: forward guide means disposed to elevate and guide the rods in a group which is spaced laterally from a reference plane extending longitudinally of the roadway so that a space is formed between said plane and said group of rods, a concrete conveyor disposed to discharge concrete through said space and onto said grade, concrete distributing and spreading means disposed below the elevated rods and rearward of said conveyor, guide means disposed to lower the rods and uniformly space the same across said roadway section in parallel relation to said reference plane, means to depress the rods to said depth in the concrete, and means to respread and finish the surface of the concrete.

4. Apparatus as in claim 3 for laying two adjoining roadway sections having a common reference plane and wherein the forward guide means is disposed to elevate and guide the rods in two groups which are oppositely spaced from said common reference plane and are well spaced from each other to define an opening therebetween.

5. Apparatus as in claim 3 wherein said concrete conveyor may be projected laterally of the roadway section being laid to receive concrete as from a delivery vehicle operating alongside the grade and the roadway section.

8. Apparatus as in claim 3 further including a platform disposed forwardly of the means to guide and depress the rods and rearwardly of the concrete distributing and spreading means and from which transverse reinforcing bars may be positioned on the concrete below the elevated rods so that said bars will be depressed by the rods to a positioned in the concrete immediately beneath the rods. 

1. First and second concrete paving machines for laying a concrete roadway having continuous longitudinal reinforcing rods embedded therein at a predetermined depth and spacing, each machine having propelling means for travel over the grade on which the rods are preassembled and on which the concrete is to be laid; said first machine comprising a forward series of rolls disposed to elevate and guide the rods into two laterally, wellspaced groups defining an opening therebetween as the machine travels, a concrete conveyor disposed over the rods to discharge concrete through said opening and onto said grade, concrete distributing and spreading means disposed below the elevated rods and rearward of said conveyor, and a rearward series of rolls disposed to uniformly space and lower the rods toward the spread concrete; said second machine comprising forward means to guide and depress the rods into the concrete and intermediate and rearward means to respread and finish the surface thereof.
 2. The concrete paving machines as in claim 1 wherein said concrete conveyor projects outwardly from the side of said first machine to receive delivered concrete and extends inwardly over one of said two groups of elevated rods to discharge the concrete through said opening.
 3. Apparatus for laying a reinforced concrete roadway section having a series of continuous longitudinal reinforcing rods embedded therein at a predetermined depth and substantially uniformly spaced across the section, said apparatus having propelling means for travel over the grade on which the rods are preassembled and on which the concrete is to be laid, said apparatus including: forward guide means disposed to elevate and guide the rods in a group which is spaced laterally from a reference plane extending longitudinally of the roadway so that a space is formed between said plane and said group of rods, a concrete conveyor disposed to discharge concrete through said space and onto said grade, concrete distributing and spreading means disposed below the elevated rods and rearward of said conveyor, guide means disposed to lower the rods and uniformly space the same across said roadway section in parallel relation to said reference plane, means to depress the rods to said depth in the concrete, and means to respread and finish the surface of the concrete.
 4. Apparatus as in claim 3 for laying two adjoining roadway sections having a common reference plane and wherein the forward guide means is disposed to elevate and guide the rods in two groups which are oppositely spaced from said common reference plane and are well spaced from each other to define an opening therebetween.
 5. Apparatus as in claim 3 wherein said concrete conveyor may be projected laterally of the roadway section being laid to receive concrete as from a delivery vehicle operating alongside the grade and the roadway section.
 6. Apparatus as in claim 5 wherein at least some of said guide means comprise support rolls moving under the rods and laterally spaced vertically disposed spacing rolls moving between the rods.
 7. Apparatus as in claim 3 wherein some of the guide means disposed to lower the rods are carried by a wheeled structure which is propelled by the apparatus having propelling means. position immediately
 8. Apparatus as in claim 3 further including a platform disposed forwardly of the means to guide and depress the rods and rearwardly of the concrete distributing and spreading means and from which transverse reinforcing bars may be positioned on the concrete below the elevated rods so that said bars will be depressed by the rods to a positioned in the concrete immediately beneath the rods. 